On Day Four we were staying a little closer to our "home" and visiting the Montmartre area of Paris, just north of our area, Pigalle.....and only a 20 minute walk or so. Montmartre is the highest point in Paris and known for it's "artsy-ness"....oh, and Sacre Coeur! I was actually quite anxious for this day, feeling like I had a mission.
Only two days before I had received news of the birth of a beautiful baby boy to one of my colleagues, only to later find out later that little Jaxson was having breathing problems and was being transferred to UVA. Jaxson's mother is a very special lady to those of us who work at Bank of America Home Loans.....she is always there to help us in any/every way she can. And this made it even harder to hear this news. Jaxson and his family were on my mind as we set out that morning.
So much so that we went into the first church we saw after getting off the Metro,
said prayers for Jaxson, his family and his doctors and lit candles for each of them.
Don't ask me what happened to those pictures.....I prefer to think it's the light reaching for the heavens for Jaxson.
We headed up the hill.....and when I say, "hill", I mean HILL! Although this peak is less than 500 feet high, the streets are steep....
You can tell by the angle of the street below how steep the streets are.....
...and yes, that is a picture of a door....more on that obsession in another post! At the top of the hill....
....the Galette de la Moulin, one of two windmills remaining on the Montmartre hill.
Built in 1717, and moved to its current "home" from further down the hill in 1924, this windmill is actually open as a restaurant! It is one of two that remain on the hill....originally there were more than 30. The windmills are the icon of Montmartre and have been depicted in painting by artists such as Van Gogh, in this painting called View of Montmartre with Windmills.....
The beautiful windmills have also been depicted in the works of artists Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
As we were walking away from the windmill, we came upon this odd sculpture....
....referred to as "Man In the Wall", the sculpture is a tribute to Marcel Aymé, a French writer of children's stories, novels, and collections and he later wrote plays and screenplays.
As we continued our walk, we noticed a crowded street of comings and goings, so we followed!
And then the streets began to narrow, with shops and restaurants right at the street's edge....there was no place to walk! Amazingly, the people and the cars share the street!
Next we headed to the area referred to as "the artist's square", where artists set up their easels and paint, and display their work for sale. While not inexpensive, you can even have your portrait done!
While taking in all of the beautiful art, I noticed a gorgeous door and sent Dennis over to get a photo of it (yes, we all had a door obsession....I'll "blog" about that later) and he came running back to tell us all that we HAD to see the view! It was gorgeous and just steps from the "artist's square"....
.....so beautiful! Next we headed towards Sacre Coeur....along the way we saw some incredible doors....
....."oh look, it's a church!"....and we went in. This church, the Church of Saint Peter of Montmartre, is the lesser known of the two main churches in Montmartre, founded by Saint Denis (no, not Saint Dennis....no such thing!) and built somewhere around 1096. As soon as we walked in, we lit candles for Jaxson, his doctors and his family.
It is a beautiful church and, although very large, it was quite dark and just made you feel hushed....
My pictures do not do any justice to this beautiful church. After doing some searching on the internet, I found a 360 degree virtual tour that is amazing! You can look at the amazing ceilings, the floor....everything!
CLICK HERE
Next up......Sacre Coeur, which is actually just "down and around" the corner from the Church of Saint Peter!
That's it at the end of the street! The closer we got, the more impressive IT got......and the more the excitement built.
I had no idea of the beauty and magnificence that was around that corner!
OK....I cannot wait for the "door post" to show you THIS door! It's amazing.....and it's JUST the side door....of the Sacre Coeur! Wow!
So, obviously we came upon the basilica from behind.....and this is what we saw as we approached the front....
...and as your round the corner.....
...people....lots of people! But what you can't help by notice immediately is that view! Sacre Coeur sits atop a steep hill and the view is absolutely amazing! You can't help but move as close as you can to it....
We walked down the steps, trying to get as close as we could to that view...
....and then I turned around.....
It is absolutely amazing....
As you can see, the place was packed.....what you can't see is the line to get in that wraps around itself a multitude of times. We decided to pass on that and head down the hill to get a better view of the basilica and its domes! So, since I don't have any photos of the interior, I searched the web and found a few for you:
As you walk down the very steep steps, the views continuously change.....
The skyline gets closer....and Sacre Coeur gets farther away....
Closer.....
Farther....
No view is any less amazing than another and all are just breathtaking! Once at the bottom, we walked a few blocks looking for a great place to eat and we did find one. I know I took another 20 or so pictures that part of the afternoon, but they're gone....never to be seen again. I will tell you that lunch was fabulous.....I had steak frites and it was delicious...there was also more French Onion soup, which tasted different everywhere we tried it, spaghetti bolognese and a burger....yes, a hamburger...and it was good!
From there we headed to Gare du Nord, the train station. One of six in Paris, it is the busiest station in Europe moving about 180 million people per year! We had all wanted to take a day trip to London and had priced it before we left for the trip. But it was decided that we would book it in Paris, in hopes of getting a better price.
Gare du Nord is huge....so Melinda and Brad checked things out, looking for where we could buy tickets.
The trains are really neat looking.....
Then we made our way to the ticket counter. Hindsight? Book in advance....book in advance....book in advance!!! The price of the trip had more than doubled and it just didn't make sense to spend those kinds of monies for just a day trip. Instead we decided to head back to the apartment and find a rental car on the internet and take a drive out into the countryside. But not before taking a "potty break"! Yea....finding a restroom at Gare du Nord? Not as easy as one might think.....along the way we saw the first military men of the entire trip (and the last)....
Check out the restroom! It looks like a spa.......
....and it costs to use it! Hmmm...what does that say on the door?
Ummmm...yea.....I mean, "thanks, but I'm just here for the toilettes"....maybe another time!
Oh wait! I forgot to tell you! Little Jaxson is well and happy! See.....prayers are heard!
Note: It's driving me insane that I'm missing so many pictures....will check with out traveling partners to see what they have! Maybe the next post will be from them!
